The Next Level

By Elle

The idea came to me while I was in my boss’s office. He was screaming about some report that was filed under the wrong title or something. I barely bothered listening because this had become his habitual tone of communication. Suddenly, while staring at the wall behind him, I noticed one of those tacky motivational posters. It was a picture of Mount Everest and the caption read “Sometimes risk is what is needed to take us to the next level.” And it just clicked. Alvin and I needed to take a risk, tackle something big, reach the next level.

I had been looking for a while for an activity to do with Alvin. It seemed our weekend walk on the mountain was not giving both him and me the thrill we craved.  Alvin is a Rottie mix. I’m always looking for a way to better my boy’s quality of life. Spending the week at the office, crouched in front of my computer, sedentary. I know Alvin can relate to my hours of inactivity. Poor little guy is confined to my ground level condo during the day.  Meanwhile I’m confined to my boxy cubicle. Needless to say, when Saturday morning rolls around, we wanna get outdoors and play. I needed to find an activity that challenged both of us, something we could share, maybe even with other people and dogs. And that’s exactly what we did. We started hiking together. It took a couple hikes to get the feel of things. By the fourth hike, it was like a natural high.

The hikes have really improved my mood. I started trimming down a little and firming up.  Alvin’s appetite has been full force, not that it's not usually, but it's morphed into beastly.  I needed to adjust his diet to sustain our new hobby.

It started out being just the two of us. But I've started inviting a couple friends and now we have a serious group going. The dynamic and energy is pretty incredible. We started sharing tips on nutrition, equipment and finding new trails to explore. I’ve already got Alvin on  holistic food, Wellness Super5Mix, which I buy at Brandy's Holistic Center and Canine Café.  Since hikes, I find myself avoiding lots of the junk foods I used to crave.  I'm not sure if it's because the summer is rolling around or because the hikes are serious sweat dripping workouts, but I'm really eating better. I want Alvin to feel as healthy and energized as I do, especially now that we're shaking up pretty much hiking every weekend. A couple months ago, if someone would of told me I'd get hooked on this activity, I would of been highly skeptical. It’s hard to believe I can look forward to my weekend hikes as much as my Friday 5 à 7 with my girlfriends. Now at the office, I catch myself thinking about Alvin's little excited face when I'm prepping our gear before we head out.

Any suggestions for trails or amazing scenery in the Greater Montreal area?